HARVEST TIME 
pln KOEN GATU NG 


BAPTISM OF MUHSOS AT KENGTUNG 


AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONARY UNION 
Bom NV ASSAGELU S EelekS 


HARVEST TIME AT KENGTUNG 
fae tat 


“Great interest among hill people ; wonderfully clear tradition; many 
professing faith ; harvest ready.” 


HIS was the telegram which, wired from Kengtung to 
Bombay and thence forwarded by nmaail to America, 
brought the news of the marvelous awakening among the 
hill tribes in Kengtung State and over the border in China. 

Few movements in the history of missions have been so won- 
derful in the way in which God has prepared the people for 
his message, the eagerness with which the gospel has been re- 
ceived and the extent of the movement’s influence. 


I. THE PLACE AND PEOPLE 


Kengtung is in the far northeastern part of Burma, 200 
miles from Mongnai, the nearest mission station, and 373 miles 
from the railway at Thazi. It is reached only after a long and 
arduous journey of several weeks across the valleys and over the 
hills, and lies just on the border between Burma and China. 

The people about Kengtung are of many‘races. On the 
plains live the Shans, while in the hill country to the north are 
the Was and the Lahu, the latter including the Muhsos, Kwes 
and Kaws. ‘The total population of the field is probably 
500,000, extending far over the border into China. 

‘The Shans are Buddhists, with the social and religious cus- 
toms common to others of their race in Burma. The religion 
of the hill tribes is spirit worship, but the different tribes vary 
somewhat from one another in habits and customs. A _pecul- 
lar custom among these hill peoples is described by Mr. Young: 


They wore cotton cords about their wrists and in some cases about the 
neck. ‘These were, first: a pledge that they would not forsake the Muhso 
customs of belief in one God, or drink liquor or follow after any evil; 
and, second: the cords expressed the longing that the foreigner would 


2 


ESA Rael Ss Dee ea vie eae sels Kak N? Geb Ue NGG 


come and teach them the knowledge of the true God, and then he would 
cut them from their wrists. When I visited the first villages where they 
had the chapels, they voluntarily carried all the offerings out, saying: ‘‘ We 
have now found the true God and have no further need of these.”’ 
The Muhso teacher came to me in the presence of all the people of 
the village and said: ‘‘ We have now found the true God; you cut these 
cords from my wrists.”? I did so, and every person in the village 
came at once and I cut all their cords. That meant a complete break 
from the past customs, and a full and complete acceptance of the new 
teaching. ‘They accepted every Christian precept that I presented to them; 
and then, after a unanimous vote, we held a formal service dedicating the 
chapel to the Lord. Since then I have cut the cords from the wrists of 
hundreds of people. 


The Muhsos believe in one God, making no offerings to 
evil spirits. “hey are not so superstitious as other tribes in 
Burma, and are but little ad- 
dicted to drink. Polygamy is 
not tolerated among them, the 
culty man being put to death 
or driven from the village. “The 
Kaws, on the other hand, wor- 
ship evil spirits, but believe in 
one God, the creator of all 
things. ‘I hey lack the spirit of 
hope and longing that charac- 
terizes the Muhsos, and are 
much given to drunkenness. 
‘The two peoples intermarry. 


Il. STRANGE TRADITIONS 


Our first missionaries, Rey. = 
mid ers a VVIiGuinear MUHSO TEACHERS BAPTIZED BY 
. . . a 7 


rived in Kengtung early in 1901 aes 

and laid the foundations for future work. The following year 
the first convert was baptized, now a strong bazar evangelist, 
and during the next two years a few others were added. 

At first the work was confined to the Shans, but in Octo- 
ber, 1904, the first Muhso.was baptized. The day of his bap- 
tism two teachers of this tribe and their followers arrived from 
China with the strange announcement that they had been trav- 
eling fourteen years among their people, calling on them to 
turn from evil and follow after righteousness, ‘‘ because,’’ as 


3 


Fic As ReVorhaSic tor eS NTE Sema | ean ee Ee INs Gres lem eter 


they said, “the true God is coming soon.’’ ‘They said they had 
just found this true God. ‘They listened earnestly as the mis- 
sionary explained the gospel and professed to believe his mes- 
sage entirely. “Chen they told of peculiar traditions which 
their people held, like those of the Karens, although clearer 
in some points. “They could tell of the creation, the fall and 
the flood, much as the Bible gives the account. “They had 
commandments, also, almost identical in teaching to the Ten 
Commandments. ‘They said that God once dwelt among men, 
that he had gone away but is coming again. “The knowledge 
of the true God was to come from foreigners. 


Ill. THE GREAT INGATHERING 


The baptism of the first Muhso was the signal for a gen- 
eral movement among that people, and by the end of the year 
358 had been baptized. People be- 
gan to come in to the station to hear 
the new teaching, and such crowds 
came that the gathering, instead of 
continuing but a few days as was 
expected, lasted fve months, some 
coming thirty days’ journey. One 
delegation came from the Was, and 
investigation brought the most en- 
couraging reports, the people sim- 
ply pleading for the missionary to 
come and teach them. Mr. Young 
planned a tour into this Wa coun- 
try, but owing to unsettled condi- 
tions the government deemed it un- 
wise to permit the journey at that 
time. 

During 1905 and 1906 many 
evangelists were kept in the feld, 
touring constantly among the vil- 
laces. ‘“Lhey preached the gospel, 
examined candidates and_ baptized 
such as gave evidence of true con- 
version. Everywhere the people have 
given heed to the Word, and hundreds have been baptized. In 


4 


THE FIRST MUHSO CONVERT 


EDAD RR Vee tes ees Dae Lele Te er oe Lee ees ING Gy olan GaN Gs 


one month, December, 1905, 1,340 were baptized. Among 
the foremost workers is Ba Te, a Karen, formerly a strong 
helper in the Bassein Mission. Ba ‘Te was once a lawyer, 
and in that vocation received much larger compensation than 
he now has. He prefers, however, even at a lower salary, 
to engage in this missionary work among strange peoples. 


IV. DIFFICULTIES 


1. Schools. —In all the Burma missions much has been 
accomplished through schools, both as a training school for 
workers and as a field for evangelization. On the opening of 
work in Kengtung a great demand for schools was anticipated, 
and this expectation was strengthened by the almost supersti- 
tious reverence of the people for books, even though they 
could not read, and by their legends of the coming of the for- 
eigners with books and blessing. But to a large extent these 
hopes have been disappointed. Social customs are directly 
opposed to the gathering of young people at a central station. 
When teachers have been provided, no doubt they will be ir 
great demand among the mountain villages; but the difficulty 
is to get the young men and women to train, either from their 
own disinclination or the opposition of their parents to their 
leaving home. ‘There are signs of promise, however. In 
some sections the Muhsos are eager for schools and ready to 
build their own schoolhouses. Mr. Young quotes one leading 
Muhso as saying: ‘“‘If you want children for schools we will 
furnish you with a thousand at once.’’? Dr. Tilbe says of the 
prospective school work: ““Once well started it will go with 
ever increasing momentum.”’ 


2. Language.— Another difficulty has been the lack of a 
written language. A few months ago the Lahu was a mere 
colloquial dialect, with no alphabet. Now an alphabet in Roman 
characters has been formed, and Dr. Vilbe and others of the 
missionaries are at work upon a literature. A few pamphlets 
and small books have been mimeographed, including a sim- 
ple arithmetic, Mrs. Judson’s catechism, simple Bible pas- 
sages and a number of hymns. ‘The workers plan to take 
copies of these with them on their tours, teaching the al- 
phabet and making a beginning of instruction in the literature 
available. ‘‘ Within a year,’? says Dr. Tilbe, ‘“‘there will 


5 


FzA REV GTS elie oe TT SIV ie Bye ACG ae koe eae rela N Ce 


be several hundreds of the Lahu reading and writing their 
own language, singing gospel hymns from books of their own, 
and exhorting one another in their Sunday services from Bible 
texts in their own tongue.’’ 


3. Christian Terminology.— Even a greater difficulty, how- 
ever, has been the lack of a Christian terminology in which to 
express the ideas of the new teaching. Dr. Tilbe thus de- 
scribes the problem: 


MISSION CHAPEL, KENGTUNG, BURMA 


In some instances words will be found that will be understood; in many 
cases new words will have to be coined outright or borrowed from some 
other language, or else words of their own will have to be taken and 
used in a special sense that they never had before. After more than two 
years’ work among them it was impossible to translate for them the Lord’s 
Prayer and the Doxology, two of the simplest and yet most essential 
things in the beginning of Christian work. ‘There was no word for 
‘*hallowed,’? nor for *‘kingdom,’’ for ‘‘temptation,’’ for ‘‘evil,’’ for 
“¢ praise,’’ for ‘‘ Holy Ghost,’? nor for ‘‘creatures.’’ In the baptismal 
formula with which thousands had been baptized, a roundabout expression 
had been used for ‘‘ Holy Spirit’? that was very awkward and had to be 
explained to give the people any notion at all of the thought. 


This difficulty, however, is gradually being removed, as the 
missionaries learn more of the language and its thoughts and 
the people come to understand better the intentions of the new 
teachers. 


HSASRSVeHAS lemeelis VISES OAR” © Keb aNe Ge WINE 


V. MEDICAL WORK 


Under conditions which have greatly hampered him, Dr. 
Gibbens has pushed the medical work among both Shans and 
hill peoples. With no hospital in which to care for serious 
cases, he has treated some in his own house. Crowds come to 
the dispensary for medicine, and many not only seek help for 
themselves but take back medicines to the hills for others who 
are sick. Dr. Gibbens tells of one such instance: 

Two men came to me seven days’ journey in order to get medicine for a 
~ man who had ‘‘holes’’ in the bottom of his foot and whose leg had been 
stiff for nearly a year. ‘They told me with all gravity that the wind en- 


tered through these holes in his foot, and passing up the limb and side to 
the chest, descended into the abdomen and gave him the colic! 


During 1905 a total of 6,165 patients were treated, and an 
effort is being made to put the work on a self-supporting basis. 
This is found to be difficult, however, as thousands of the hill 
folk are too poor to pay. ‘This part of the work is bright with 
promise for the needy and suffering people. 


VI. THE OPENING INTO CHINA 


One of the most encouraging features of the work is the 
vastness of the field. It has been known that the Lahu and 
Was were found in large numbers over the border in China, 
but recently it has been learned that these are much more 
numerous and extend over a greater territory than had been 
supposed. Over 300 miles north of Kenegtung a branch of the 
Lahu has been found, called the Lahu Min Chia. ‘They call 
themselves, however, Lawlos, and it is supposed that this is the 
same as Lolo, the name of some aborigines with whom our 
West China missionaries have come in contact. “These Lawlos, 
or Lahu Min Chia, Mr. Young describes as the finest Lahu he 
has met. ‘* The important point is,’’ he says, ““that covering an 
area 600 miles in length from north to south, are found a peo- 
ple resembling the Karens, and evidently of the same general 
stock, whom the Spirit of God has carefully prepared for the 
gospel. Who can tell in God’s providence what influence these 
simple-minded hill people may have in bringing the haughty 
Chinese to receive the gospel?’’ Indeed, it may be that our mis- 
sions in Burma and China will some day reach out to each other 
and clasp hands in united work for these people of the hills. 


7 


HAGE VE She oe Cavs ee ied K°EANs GT GaN 


Among the tribes over the China border which are reached 
by our Kengtung workers, are the Was, scattered over a wide 
area. ‘Their leader, though a Wa, was well acquainted with 
Lahu traditions and his teaching was a clear monotheism. 
It now appears that he is one of those called Kai Shin among 
the Was, or, as the Lahu call them, Bon Shin, ‘‘seekers after 
the good path.’’ “They constitute more than half the whole 
number of Was, and have abandoned their old habits and cus- 
toms, accepting the Lahu traditions concerning God. ‘They 
long ago gave up head-hunting and other grosser practises. 
Through the influence of their leader the whole people have 
abandoned head-hunting and are calling for the gospel. As 
Mr. Young says, “‘ It shows that God has been preparing this 
people for a long time to receive the gospel.’’ Mr. Young 
and Mr. Antisdel, the latter transferred from Africa in 1905, 
have begun touring among these peoples and more denne 
information may be expected soon. 

This is the wonderful Re apreneatc: pre- 
sented to American Baptists at Kengtung. 
Seldom in the history 
of missions has there 
been such an opening. 
‘The way is clear for 
a great advance move- 
ment into China 
along the fron- 
tier of Burma 
and Assam. 
The. situation 
calls for hearti- 
est praise and 
thanksgiving to 
God for this outpouring of his Spirit, as well as earnest prayer 
that the missionaries and native workers may be divinely led 
‘n all their plans and efforts. 


PONY SENT BY THE WAS TO THE MISSIONARY 


““ A pledge of the sincerity of their desire to accept Christ.” 


619-1 Ed.-5M-April ,1907. Price 3 cents. 


